Age of entitlement

As the annual round of backslapping - and backbiting - for new year knights and dames approaches, PAUL LITTLE looks at our honours system and whether it merits a polish up.

- PAUL LITTLE

Separating an individual from the common herd with the royal honours “Sir” or “Dame” seems at first blush to go against the egalitarian grain in New Zealand. Although Kiwis have paid only lip service to the myth for a long time, egalitarianism still lurks in the national subconscious.

The official government website for the honours system is upfront about the anomaly, quoting a 1995 review: “We believe that such recognition is consistent with the egalitarian character of New Zealand society and enlivens and enriches it.”

Sir John Key - who in 2009 restored the titular honours that his predecessor Helen Clark abolished in 2000 - thinks he knows why their reinstatement was popular. “What people were reflecting was that, as a general rule, the people who got them had done something very significant, and it was a way of explaining in shorthand that the person had done that,” says Key.

Nothing short about the titles though, because titular honours also come with post-nominal letters - so Dame Valerie Adams DNZM is officially a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

There is also a non-egalitarian hierarchy within the titles. Some knights and dames are grand companions of the NZ Order of Merit. Some are just plain old companions.

There is another honour classified above that of any knight or dame: many people aren't aware the non-titular Order of New Zealand (ONZ) is ranked higher still. It is held by only 20 people at one time.

“Believe it or not, about 10% of people say no to the offer of an honour,” Key recalls of his time in charge of the selection committee. “It's for all sorts of reasons. It’s not because ‘I don't like the government’ or ‘If another government gave it to me, I might say yes’. They feel they don’t want recognition. They didn't do what they did for that.”